Trial Aftermath: Documents
Relating to the Joseph and Hyrum Smith MurdersThe Martyrs: A Sketch
of the Lives and a Full Account of the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum
Smith by Lyman O. Littlefield (Salt Lake City, 1882)(Chapter X)The Smith homestead in Nauvoo, with the grave of Joseph
and Hyrum Smith in the foreground

CHAPTER X.

FORD'S
FLIGHT FROM NAUVOO ON HEARING THE SIGNAL THAT THE MURDER HAD BEEN
COMMITTED - PREVENTS THE NEWS FROM BEING CARRIED TO NAUVOO – HIS ADVICE
TO THE PEOPLE OF CARTHAGE TO FLEE- ELDER TAYLOR'S RETURN TO NAUVOO- HIS
OWN ACCOUNT OF IT- THE GOVERNOR'S ALARM- JONAS AND FELLOWS SENT BY HIM
TO NAUVOO-RESOLUTIONS OF CITY COUN­CIL- PEOPLE OF WARSAW REFUSE TO
SUPPORT THE GOVERNOR-INSOLENT LETTER FROM FORD.

WHILE
Governor Ford was delivering his unfeeling and insulting speech at
Nauvoo, the cannon was fired by the mob party, midway between Carthage
and Warsaw, as a signal that the deed of murder and treachery had been
accomplished. The report was heard at Nauvoo, and, although not
understood by the citizens, yet from the movements of the governor andhis posse,
those who noticed their actions were satisfied, after­wards, that
they
understood what it meant. They made a pre­cipitate retreat, and, a
little way
out from the city, they met George D. Grant and David Bettisworth, who
had been
sent with the tidings, and the governor turned them back with him, to
prevent
the news from reaching Nauvoo before he could get a sufficient distance
away to
be safe against the pursuing "Mor­mons."

They
reached Carthage about midnight. The governor had an interview with Dr.
Richards, and then went to the public square and advised all who were
there to
disperse, as he expected the people of Nauvoo would come and burn the
town.
They took his advice and decamped instanter, while he rode on as fast
as he
could and made no further halt until he was about fifty miles distant
from
Nauvoo. After a short rest he continued, his hurried journey to his
home. ''The
wicked flee when no man pursueth."

The
Saints did not follow for vengeance. The tactics of

man
would
have led to such a result; but they were mar­shaled under a banner
whose
omnipotent sovereign has declared that "vengeance is mine and I will
repay." They made no demonstration of force whatever. Yet there was a
general feeling of uneasiness through the country, for the people did
not believe
it possible that the Saints would restrain their pas­sions.

While their enemies throughout the County were
fleeing for their lives, or trembling lest retributive justice should
overtake
them, the Saints in Nauvoo were peacefully but sorrowfully performing
the last
rites over the remains of their martyred Prophet and Patriarch and
taking steps
to have Elder John Taylor, who still lay at Carthage terribly wounded
and in a
very precarious condition, brought home. The account of his return to
Nauvoo is
thus related by President Taylor:

"I
lay from about five o'clock until the next morning with­out having
my wounds
dressed, as there was scarcely any help of any kind in Carthage, and
Brother
Richards was busy with the dead bodies, preparing them for removal. My
wife Leo­nora
started early the next day, having had some little trouble in getting a
company
or a physician to come with her; after considerable
difficulty she succeeded in getting an escort, and Dr. Samuel Bennet
came along with her. Soon after my father and mother came from Oquakie,
near which place they had a farm at that time, and hearing of the
trouble, hastened along.

"Many of
the mob, came around and treated me with appar­ent respect, and the
officers and people generally looked upon me as a hostage, and feared
that my removal would be the signal for the rising of the "Mormons."

"I do not
remember the time that I staid at Carthage, but I think three or four
days after the murder, when Brother Marks with a carriage, Brother
James Allred with a wagon, Dr. EUs, and a number of others on
horseback, came for the purpose of taking me to Nauvoo. I was very weak
at the time, occasioned by the loss of blood and the great discharge of
my wounds, so when my wife asked me if I could talk I could barely
whisper 'No.' Quite a discussion arose as to the propriety of my
removal, the physicians and people of' Carthage protesting that it
would be my death, while my friends were anxious for my removal if
possible.

"I suppose
the former were actuated by the above-named desire to keep me. Colonel
Jones was, I believe, sincere; he had acted as a friend all the time,
and he told Mrs. Taylor she ought to persuade me not to go, for he did
not believe I had strength enough to reach Nauvoo. It was finally
agreed, however, that I should go; but as it was thought that I could
not stand riding in a wagon or carriage, they prepared a litter for me;
I was carried down stairs and putupon
it; A number of men assisted to carry me, some of whom had been engaged
in the mob. As soon as I got down stairs, I felt much better and
strengthened, so that I could talk; I suppose the effect of the fresh
air.

"When we
had got near the outside of the town I remem­bered some woods that
we had to go through, and telling a person near to call for Dr. Ells,
who was riding a very good horse, I said, 'Doctor, I perceive that the
people are getting fatigued with carrying me; a number of 'Mormons'
live about two or three miles. from here, near our route; will you ride
to their settlement as quick as possible, and have them come and meet
us?' He started off on a gallop immediately, My object in this was to
obtain protection in case of an attack; rather than to obtain help to
carry me."Very soon
after the men from Carthage made one excuse after another, until they
had all left, and I felt glad to get rid of them. I found that the
tramping of those carrying me produced violent pain, and a sleigh was
produced and attached to the hind end of Brother James Allred's wagon,
a bed placed upon it, and I propped up on the bed. Mrs. Taylor

rode
with
me, applying ice and ice-water to my wounds. As the sleigh was dragged
over the
grass on the prairie, which was quite tall, it moved very easily and
gave me
very little pain.

When
I got within five or six miles of Nauvoo the brethren commenced to meet
me from
the city, and they increased in number as we drew nearer until there
was a very
large company of people of all ages and both sexes, principally,
however, men.

“For
some time there had been almost incessant rain, so that in many low
places on
the prairie it was from one to three feet deep in water, and at such
places the
brethren whom we met took hold of the sleigh, lifted it and carried it
over the
water; and when we arrived in the neighborhood of the city, where the
roads
were excessively muddy and bad, the brethren tore down the fences, and
we
passed through the fields.

"Never
shall I forget the difference of' feeling that I experi­enced
between the place
that I had left and the one that I had now arrived at. I had left a lot
of
reckless, bloodthirsty mur­derers, and had come to the city of the
Saints, the
people of the living God, friends of truth and righteousness, thousands
of whom
stood there with warm, true hearts, to offer their friendship and
services, and
to welcome my return. It is true it was a painful scene, and brought
sorrowful remembrance
to mind,

but
to me
it caused a thrill of joy to find myself once more in the bosom of my
friends,
and to meet with the cordial welcome of true, honest hearts. What was
very
remarkable, I found myself very much better after my arrival at Nauvoo
than I
was when I started on my journey, although I had traveled eighteen
miles.
"

The
governor continued to be alarmed, so much so that he sent A. Jonas and
Colonel
Fellows to Nauvoo, where they arrived on the first of July- seven days
after
the murder. Their instructions from the executive were as follows:

"Colonel
Fellows and Captain Jonas are requested to proceed by the first boat to
Nauvoo,
and ascertain what is the feeling, disposition, and determination of
the
"people there, in reference to the late disturbances, ascertain whether
any of them pro­pose in any manner to avenge themselves, whether
any threats
have been used, and what is proposed generally to be done by them."

The
City Council met and deliberated upon the matter. They passed
resolutions that,
for the preservation of peace; they would rigidly sustain the laws and
the
governor of the State, so long as he and they would sustain them in
their
constitu­tional rights. As the governor had taken from the people
of Nauvoo
their arms, they thought he should also take possession of
all the public arms of the State. They reprobated private revenge for
the murder
of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and appealed to the majesty of the law for
redress,
and should the law fail, they concluded to leave the matter with God.
In
the remaining resolutions, the members of the City Council pledged
themselves
for the City of Nauvoo that no aggressions should be made by the
citizens upon
the people of the surround­ing country, and they also expressed
their
willingness to “uphold the governor and the law by all honorable means
while he
took a course to allay excitement and restore peace, and would use his
influence to stop all vexatious proceedings in law until confidence
should be
restored, so that the citizens of Nauvoo could go, if necessary, to
Carthage,
or any other place, for trial, without exposing themselves to the
violence of assassins.
"

The
same day a public meeting was held by the citizens of Nauvoo, at which
Messrs.
Jonas and Fellows were present, and the resolutions of the City Council
were
read and unanimously endorsed by the citizens.

From
Nauvoo the governor's commissioners went to Carthage and Warsaw, and at
the
latter place Mr. Jonas made a speech to the people in which he
requested them
to say whether they would support Governor Ford in enforcing the law
and uphold­ing
the Constitution, and they unanimously refused to give the pledge.

This
refusal on the part of the people of Warsaw is in keep­ing with all
their
previous proceedings towards the people of Nauvoo, and it requires but
very
little discernment to discover where the wrong existed. They thirsted
for
further trouble and bloodshed and said that either they or the Mormons
must
leave the County.

The
people of Carthage and Warsaw were not alone in sanc­tioning the
cruel murder
of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; the deed met with a general feeling of
approval
throughout the whole country, so far as bigoted priests, traitorous
apostates
and lawless mobocrats had been able to raise a prejudice against them.
The
feeling was not as outspoken everywhere else as at those places; but
still
there was a strong under-current of approval in the public sentiment.
The
majority of the people winked at the transaction, though there were
some
honorable exceptions.
This is most clearly set forth in a letter written by Ford about this
time, to
the people of Nauvoo, in which he thus insults their misfortunes:

"The
naked truth then is, that most well-informed persons condemn in the
most
unqualified manner the mode in which the Smiths were put to death; but
nine out
of every ten of such accompany the expression of their disapprobation
by a
manifestation of their pleasure that they are dead. The
disap­proval is most
unusually cold and without feeling. It is a dis­approval which
appears to be
called for, on their part, by decency, by a respect for the laws and a
horror
of mobs, but does not flow warm from the heart. The unfortunate victims
of this
assassination were generally and thoroughly hated throughout the
country, and
it is not reasonable to suppose that their death has produced any
reaction in
the public mind resulting in active sympathy; if you think so, you are
mis­taken.
Most that is said on the subject is merely from the teeth out; and your
people
may depend on the fact, that public feeling is now, at this time, as
thoroughly
against them as it has ever been."

It
was not enough that the Saints should have their beloved leaders
murdered in
cold blood! It was not sufficient that they should be sacrificed to
treachery!
It did not suffice that their lives should be cut short by the
assassin! It was
not disgraceful enough that Ford should outrage honor and humanity by
breaking
the plighted faith of the State! It was not suffi­ciently barbarous
and
unprincipled that he should draw his confiding victims into death's
snare and
then leave them defense­less, after repeatedly pledging himself for
their
protection! It was not
cruel enough for him to thus make them the victims of a ruthless mob!
No, all this
did not suffice. He must send his relentless stings still deeper into
the
wounded heart and taunt the Saints in the depths of that grief which
his own
treach­ery had produced. After he, and his willing helpers, had
shed the
innocent blood, he must coolly and in this heartless manner insult the
tenderest feelings of love and respect that it is possi­ble for
mortal beings
to entertain for any of their race.

Ford
was a weak governor. He lacked the essential quali­ties for a
statesman. He was
destitute of stability and energy. He could not brook the taunts and
threats of
mobocrats, but suffered himself to be moulded as their pliant tool. He
descended
from the dignity of a governor and walked arm in arm with those who
trampled his
authority under their feet.

The
governor was right in what he said in the foregoing extract as to the
bitter
feeling of the people of the State against the "Mormon" community and
their secret sanction of the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.